How to Get a Job in Cybersecurity

It’s no wonder so many ambitious professionals are exploring how to get a job in cybersecurity these days. There is an unmet demand for cybersecurity talent of at least 4 million jobs globally, and numerous cybersecurity jobs offer enticing six-figure salaries.^1,2

With so many options in the field of cybersecurity, each with their own expectations and requirements, it can be difficult to know where to begin your career search. Read these helpful tips for getting a job in cybersecurity, including the kinds of training you should seek out to ensure you’re prepared to work in this vital field.

Cybersecurity is a highly technical field, and you’ll want to be sure you’re prepared to work in it with a thorough, up-to-date education in the latest cyber threats, countermeasures, and evolving technologies. There are numerous short course options out there to get you started with the basics if you’re totally new to the field, but you might consider a master’s degree in cybersecurity if you really want to dive deep into the subject and put yourself in the best position possible to make it your new career.

Master’s degree programs help ensure the cybersecurity training you receive has been vetted and designed by real experts. They provide a stamp of authority on your education in the field and are a great line to add to your resume. Many cybersecurity master’s degree programs can be completed in under two years, and some, like the professionally-focused program at Yeshiva Katz, are entirely online master’s in cybersecurity degrees to accommodate working professionals. This way, you don’t need to interrupt your momentum while you work toward advancement or a career pivot.

Cybersecurity is a field in which credentials carry great weight. There are a number of certifications available for cybersecurity professionals of different levels of experience, and adding one or more of them to your resume is a great way to ensure it gets noticed when you embark on a cybersecurity job search.

Major certifications available in the field of cybersecurity include Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), Security+, Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH), Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) and ISACA-CRISC. Each of these certifications requires passing an exam, and some require multiple years of expertise in the field. CISSP is a great certification to earn to launch a cybersecurity career, so it would be wise to choose a program that specifically prepares you for the exam. For example, students at Yeshiva Katz are qualified to take the exam after their very first course in the online master’s in cybersecurity program.

One thing that can be easy to forget about cybersecurity, as you think about the vital function it plays in the global economy, is that it is still a business. Advancement within cybersecurity is not just for the most technically adept professionals, it also requires that you take the time to learn how to work on—and eventually lead—a diverse, dynamic team.

Working on your soft skills in a professional setting can go a long way toward demonstrating that you’re ready to step into a management role. You could also augment whatever training you’re doing in the field of cybersecurity with business classes. Or better yet, you can seek out a cybersecurity master’s degree program that truly takes professionalization seriously. The online master’s program at Yeshiva Katz, for instance, combines management training with technical courses to help prepare you for a cybersecurity leadership role.

If you’re serious about learning how to get a job in cybersecurity, there’s no better source of advice than someone who has successfully earned one. Ask a trusted colleague about their experiences in the field and have them outline the steps they took to get where they are today. In a field with as many career options and pathways as cybersecurity, experience can be your best guide.

If you’re taking cybersecurity classes, you should ask your mentor to vet the ideas and strategies you develop along the way. Have them serve as a sounding board for any new initiatives you would like to implement in your organization. By having someone you trust monitor your progress and critique your ideas, you can practice what you’re learning in a real-world setting. Additionally, you’ll demonstrate to someone whose opinion you value that you’re developing a skill set that could potentially benefit the company.

Faculty members are also a great resource because they must have key cybersecurity certifications or experience to teach in higher education. Their first-hand knowledge, combined with the exercises they design for your courses, will help you contextualize your learning and understand the realities of the industry.

Not everything there is to know about cybersecurity is learned in the classroom. For a field that evolves at such a rapid pace, key knowledge is just as often encountered in the form of breaking news as it is found in a textbook. Keep up to date on notable breaches, newly discovered software vulnerabilities and any patches issued to fix them, reports of new phishing scams, newly reported viruses, and any other relevant stories you may come across. Staying abreast of the most current information is not only a valuable part of cybersecurity training, it’s also a way to protect your company and demonstrate your own commitment to succeeding in the field at the same time.

Cybersecurity forums and discussion boards across the internet are also valuable places where you can track evolving threats and engage in conversation with like-minded individuals. You can seek out message boards hosted by leading companies in the field or explore other forums like the r/cybersecurity subreddit, where you’ll find a playful mix of memes and jokes with real substantive questions and answers from experts and aficionados. Join one of these communities and see how much you can learn from the discussions that take place there.

There’s no better place to start your search for how to get a job in cybersecurity than at the Katz School of Science and Health, where our online Master’s in Cybersecurity program has been designed specifically to propel your career. The Yeshiva Katz faculty of seasoned cybersecurity experts all work in the field: Fortune 500 companies, global banks and other standout organizations in the industry hotbed of New York. With their guidance and connections, you’ll be ready to join their ranks.